The Best Baked Ziti
This easy baked ziti is a huge family favorite. Creamy, cheesy alfredo pasta topped with a beefy spaghetti sauce! Then topped with melted cheese!
A DELICIOUSLY EASY BAKED ZITI RECIPE
This is one of my favorite comfort food pasta dishes. This one along with my Baked Spaghetti (Spasagna) is the ultimate comfort food for me. Serve it with some Garlic Bread and a salad and I am a happy camper!
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
I usually use penne pasta because it has those little ridges in it. And those little ridges are really good at hanging onto the pasta sauce. But if you prefer the Ziti pasta, then use that instead of the Penne. This recipe is versatile and you can use almost any other pasta noodle you prefer.
When I make this, I usually purchase an extra jar of spaghetti sauce so we can pour extra sauce over the top when serving.
Absolutely! Or you can try using different flavored alfredo sauces – like garlic or basil.
Yes, of course. Whatever you prefer. Ground pork can also be used.
Want an extra kick? Try adding some ground Italian sausage to the mixture!
Yes! Like most pasta dishes this freezes very well. Just cover properly to protect against freezer burn and it will jeep for up to 3 months.
Allow it to cool fully then put it in a covered container and into the refrigerator where it will keep for up to 3 days.
INGREDIENTS NEEDED: (SEE RECIPE CARD BELOW FOR THE FULL RECIPE)
- ground beef – you can use Italian sausage, ground pork or pretty much any ground meat you prefer.
- spaghetti sauce – I really love Rao’s pasta sauce when I can get it on sale. It’s so good! As you can see below, I had to go with Prego here which is a good sauce as well. Use a sauce that you enjoy. Or you can make your own Homemade Marinara Sauce.
- alfredo sauce – use your favorite storebosugh alfredo sauce or make your own from scratch. I have a delicious homemade alfredo sauce that I make for my Copycat Olive Garden Chicken Alfredo recipe.
- penne, ziti or rigatoni pasta – you can use any pasta that is of similar size and you’ll want to use the same amount.
- onion – if you also enjoy adding peppers to your sauces, you would add it in at the same time you add the onion.
- shredded mozzarella – shred your own or use store bought pre-shredded cheese
HOW TO MAKE BAKED ZITI
Preheat oven to 350F degrees. Spray a 9×13-inch baking dish with nonstick spray. Prepare pasta according to directions. In a medium sauce pan, brown ground beef with onion (if using.) After beef is browned and crumbled, drain excess grease.
Put back in pot and pour in one jar of spaghetti sauce. Keep mixture on low until pasta is done.
When pasta is finished, drain well. You want the pasta as dry as possible. Put pasta back in large pot (with heat off) and pour in jar of alfredo sauce. Combine until thoroughly coated.
Pour pasta mixture into bottom of 9×13 dish.
Cover pasta with spaghetti sauce mixture.
Sprinkle top with mozzarella cheese.
Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 15 minutes. I like to spray the inside of my foil with nonstick spray so the cheese doesn’t stick to it. Or you could use nonstick aluminum foil. Remove foil and bake for another 15 minutes until cheese is melted and bubbly.
Let rest for about 5 minutes after taking out of oven.
CRAVING MORE RECIPES?
The Best Baked Ziti (+Video)
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground beef
- 32 ounce jar of your favorite spaghetti sauce
- 16 ounce jar alfredo sauce
- 1 pound penne pasta (or ziti or rigatoni)
- ½ yellow onion, diced
- 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F degrees. Spray a 9"x 13" baking dish with nonstick spray.
- Prepare pasta according to directions.
- In a medium sauce pan, brown ground beef with onion (if using).
- After beef is brown and crumbled, drain excess grease.
- Put back in pot and pour in one jar of spaghetti sauce. Keep mixture on low until pasta is done.
- When pasta is finished, drain excess water from pasta. You want the pasta as dry as possible.
- Put pasta back in large pot (with heat off) and pour in jar of alfredo sauce. Combine until thoroughly coated.
- Pour pasta mixture into bottom of 9"x 13" dish.
- Cover pasta with spaghetti sauce mixture.
- Sprinkle top with mozzarella cheese.
- Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 15 minutes.
- Remove foil and bake for another 15 minutes until cheese is melted and bubbly. Let rest for about 5 minutes after taking out of oven.
- Serve portions onto plates, and pour additional paghetti sauce on top (optional)
Video
Notes
- Please refer to my FAQ’s (Frequently Asked Questions) and ingredient list above for other substitutions or for the answers to the most common questions.
Nutrition
Nutritional Disclaimer
“The Country Cook” is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. If calorie count and other nutritional values are important to you, we recommend running the ingredients through whichever online nutritional calculator you prefer. Calories and other nutritional values can vary quite a bit depending on which brands were used.
Originally published: May 2011
Updated and republished: February 2020
My granddaughter and I made this for dinner tonight. My Dad actually complimented it (he never, ever says anything nice about food), and my granddaughter put this on the top of her favorite recipes. It uses a lot of pans, but well worth it!
Looks delicious! Yum. I love how everyone makes this recipe their own. Thanks for sharing.
I made this last night and was delicious! I love all pasta. I used 1 can of the Hunts sauce (which happens to be my favorite) and a container of homemade sauce my friend made. Her sauce had hot sausage and zucchini in it. Awesome easy dinner to make. I did make it ahead night before. I commute so it was nice to come home and just pop it in the oven. I did keep it in the oven a bit longer as it was in the fridge. Thanks!:)
I am thinking of substituting the ground beef with sweet Italian pork or chicken sausage for more of a spicy taste. Maybe adding sweet onions. This dish sounds delicious. I plan to baked and bring to a potluck dinner happening in a few weeks. Thanks!
This was a big hit at our house tonite!
Another hit, Brandy….
LeighAnne
This was the best Baked Ziti I ever had! My family absolutely loved it and we had the leftovers a few days later and to me, it was even better, lol. I will definitely be making this for now on, Thank you for a great recipe!
I can't wait to try this! It sounds delish! I have a quick question about the extra can of sauce? Since you set it to the side & warm it while the dish is cooking, do you just use it as a topper when the dish is done?… as you can tell I don't cook a Whole lot! Lol! Thanks for your help! Definitely trying this, this week! Nom!
I can't wait to try this!! I have a question about the extra can of sauce? If you set it to the side & warm it while the dish is cooking, do you just use it as a topper after the dish is done cooking?…. as you can tell I don't cook much! Lol! Thanks for your help, I will definitely be trying this out this week!
It warms my heart reading these comments!! Thank you so much! I'm so happy y'all have had success with this one!! Brandy- yep, I just heat up that second can of sauce and either spoon it right on top of the individual servings. Or if you like, put some on the bottom of the plates & then serve pasta on top 🙂
Thank you so much!!! I love how you take a picture of the ingredients and step by step of the process!! I'm such a visual person and this rocks! I am 28 and LOVE your receipes…finally I feel like I can cook! 😛
Please keep the receipes coming!!!
I made this over the break and picky husband who says he does not like pasta loved it. I exchanged sausage for the ground beef and mixed a beaten egg with the alfredo sauce only because I had read somewhere to do that when making baked pasta. This is the perfect funeral food dish, so the ingredients are on my shopping list to have on hand when necessary. Thanks so much.
Yes, you can use the classic Alfredo 🙂
Can I use classic Alfredo sauce instead of garlic Parmesan? I accidentally bought the wrong one.
I'm sure you know this but the dish freezes very well. I cook the hamburger and ziti and assemble it. Once it's cooled I freeze it. Then when I want to cook it I pull it from the freezer the day before. It works great and there is one batch going in the freezer today!
Thx for adding this tip!
thank you
excellent
Wow! I think this will become family favorite, it just came out of the oven and it took some willpower to let it cool. It is delicious and I think I may need seconds. Thank you.
Hi, I was just wondering if this would freeze well? I have made it once before and it was a hit with my family!! Delicious!
Hi Kim! I didn't think there were eggs in alfredo sauces. I know there are eggs in carbonara sauces but alfredo is usually butter and heavy cream. But I would definitely check the back of the label to make sure there aren't egg products in it. You could make your own alfredo from scratch if you like. There are some pretty simple recipes for it online. I hope that helps!
My husband is allergic to eggs which is in many Alfredo sauces. Can I substitute something for it?
This looks delicious! And how easy? Yum…thanks for the recipe!
Just took this out of the oven – and wow, does it look and smell great! Giving it a few minutes to cool and then feed the starving peeps here! Thank you so much for sharing great recipes!
I'm making this for dinner tonight–works out I already have everything needed. All your recipes look soo yummy, can't wait to take some time to look at others =)
Could you substitute ground pork instead of beef? This looks oh too good and I happen to have GP on hand.
Thank you so much for the recipe.
I made this last night and everyone Loved it.
It was very easy and very good!!!
Thanks again!!